Top 5: Countries taking strides towards greener transportation

Reduce Your Carbon FootprintIdeas for a more eco-friendly life, from small changes at home to sustainable products, the car you drive to where you travel.

China:
This country, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, has made electric cars a national priority. It plans to put more than one million EVs on the road every year by 2015 and 10 million electric cars and buses by 2020, helped by a 100 billion yuan (Dh58bn) injection into the local industry. Foreign car makers such as Volkswagen and BMW are joining local car makers to help develop the technology. In addition, the government has set subsidies for buyers and has starting building charging infrastructure in various cities.

Ireland

The government has ambitious targets to have 10 per cent of all its cars be EVs by 2020, meaning about 250,000 vehicles. To do this, it is offering €5,000 in incentives for car buyers as well as exempting them from the Vehicle Registration Tax. Meanwhile, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) is providing about 3,500 home and public charging stations across the country, while Renault-Nissan has agreed to supply its electric cars – most notably, the Nissan Leaf – and set up pilot projects for other EVs there.

Germany

This European giant is delving into electric cars, and has allocated billions of euros towards research and development, along with offering tax rebates and free parking for electric car owners. But Germany is also looking beyond electrons, investing heavily in a hydrogen fuel infrastructure. The government, along with the car company Daimler, is subsidising the building of 20 hydrogen filling stations across the country, with plans for 1,000 stations in 10 years, with an eye towards the eventual introduction of fuel-cell powered cars.
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